


When The Doctor Calls With A Stern Voice And Test Results

by IminHamiltonHell (IminUndertaleHell)



Series: I Bet You Don't Curse God [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Brain Tumors, F/F, I am so lucky that no one can see my search history, M/M, they would be so confused, this is sad, this is very angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 18:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7543558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IminUndertaleHell/pseuds/IminHamiltonHell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Frances has some unusual symptoms, the doctors run some tests. What they find is terrifying. What comes next is even more so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The News Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> Check the series summary for where the title is from.

It started when Frances started having trouble walking.

She would also say that she was dizzy, so her fathers just thought that the dizziness was the cause of it. It seemed to get better, so John and Alex just brushed it off as her just not getting enough sleep. They knew that she had a tendency to stay up until all hours of the night writing the novel she was working on or kicking someone’s ass on Twitter.

It was when she started to have trouble speaking that they were worried.

It happened gradually. It started with slight slurring. From that, it evolved into heavy slurring. Then it was slurring mixed with a heavy stutter. She was constantly confused and had trouble with coordination. John and Alex took her into the doctor, worried out of their minds.

“You must be Frances,” the doctor smiled as Frances sat on the bed in the office. She nodded. “Well, I am Dr. Manning.” She sat on the stool and turned to the two in the chairs. “Alright, what is going on?”

“It’s been an evolving thing,” John stated. “It started with her having a bit of trouble with walking. She was also dizzy, so we kind of just assumed that the two were linked because of her crazy sleep schedule. Things seemed to be getting better, but then she started to have trouble with speech. It started with her slurring. The slurring because worse, and she developed a heavy stutter along with it.”

“Now, this isn’t meant to worry you, but those symptoms could be from a range of different illnesses and disorders. It could range anything from a Chiari to a brain tumor. We will have to run some tests, mainly an MRI and CT scan. We should get those out of the way first.” She smiled. “We will get the weaker of the two out of the way and continue with a CT scan.”

Frances looked at John and Alex. She just nodded. They nodded back.

\----

“The CT scan was inconclusive, so we will proceed with the MRI and see if we get any results.” The parents just nodded. The doctor turned to Frances. “Have you received an MRI before?”

“No.”

“Well, they take about twenty minutes. You lay on a bed of sorts and the machine uses radiation waves to produce a picture. It’s harmless.” She smiled. “Now, do you have any metal inserts in your body?” Frances shook her head. 

She went through the rest of the questions, which took about another five or so minutes.

“Alright, we’re ready. We’ll take you down to the MRI machine and get the test done with. After that, we’ll send you home and call you with the results.”

\----

When the test was done, all Frances wanted to do was sleep. When they got home, they let her do that. John and Alex sat at the kitchen table in a worried silence. After about ten minutes, the silence was broken by Alex setting his cup of coffee onto the table. The two looked at each other. Alex gave John a look that said ‘everything will be okay’. He seemed so confident that things would be okay, that nothing bad was wrong, that it was just a harmless Chiari. A Chiari could be fixed with a surgery, even then, she may just need the anti-vertigo medication and she’ll be fine.

They were hopeful.

\----

About three days later, the hospital called. They were all watching a movie. They being John, Alex, Frances, and Philip, along with the Lafayette’s and Theodosia Jr. They called John’s phone. He was about to ignore it when he saw the phone number. He jumped up and hurried into the kitchen.

“This is John Laurens, correct?” His voice was stern. They recognized it as the doctor’s voice. Alex walked in seconds later.

“Yes, this is he. Do you have the results?”

“We need you to come in immediately. We must discuss treatment for Frances.”

“T-Treatment? Treatment for what?”

“She has a tumor in both the temporal lobe of her brain and in the brainstem. We are going to try to treat it.”

“Very well. When can you get us in?”

“I can have you in at any time tomorrow morning.”

“Does ten o’clock work?”

“Yes it does. I will see you then. Have a great evening.” With that, the doctor hung up. John set his phone on the table and put one hand over his mouth as he began to sob. Alex was quick to wrap him in a hug as Philip walked into the kitchen.

“Was that the doctor?” John nodded into Alex’s shoulder. “Dad, why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Philip hurried forward and Alex wrapped him into the hug.

“Your sister has two brain tumors. We’re going in tomorrow to discuss treatment.” Alex felt Philip let out a shaky breath. “It’ll be okay. She’s strong and she can do this. She can make it.” He slipped out of the hug and began to drag his fathers into the living room. He grabbed the remote off of the TV stand and paused the movie.

“Was that the doctor,” Herc asked and Philip nodded. “What did they say?” Frances tried to pick her head up from Theo’s lap, but a wave of fatigue hit her and she decided against it. Alex walked forward and kneeled in front of her.

“Fran, you have two tumors in your brain. Tomorrow, we are going in to discuss treatment.” She just closed her eyes as she took in a shaky breath. Theodosia began to run her hands through the smaller girl’s hair. It was when Theo felt a tear fall onto her leg that she lifted Frances into a hug.

“Where are the tumors,” Theo asked, her voice cracking with the tears that fell.

“One in her temporal lobe, and the other in her brainstem,” Alex choked out. Theo just nodded.

Things weren’t okay, and everyone knew it.


	2. There's a Thousand Things I Don't Deserve, And You're One Of Them

Chemo was the best option, and it seemed to be going well. They were using a pill-version of it, and things were getting better. The tumors were starting to disappear, but Frances wasn’t happy with the side effects. She wasn’t able to go to school, she had to go via video-chat to be able to translate for Virginie. She had lost all of her hair at some point, and she was almost always nauseous or vomiting. Right now, she was trying to have someone help her with her homework.

“Frances, we need to focus,” Theodosia laughed. Frances smiled.

“That’s kind of hard to do when I feel like I’m going to puke my meds back up, Theo.” She took in a deep breath.

“Should I tell the teacher to give you an extra day so you don’t have to write an essay while you’re sick?”

“I’m more than sick, Theo,” Frances snapped. 

“Let’s take a break.” She put the bookmark in her Psychology book and Frances leaned on her shoulder. “How’s the chemo going?”

“The doctors say that it’s going well. After the two are small enough, they’re going to do surgery and get them out.” She sighed. “But there’s the possibility of a recur, so Dad and Papa are still nervous.”

“How long have you been on chemo again?”

“I don’t even remember.” She wrapped her arms around the other’s torso. “I just want to be done with it. I want to go back to school. I want to go back to being a kid.” She started to sob. “I just want things to go back to normal!”

“Fran, I hate to be blunt, but things don’t just  _ go back to normal _ after cancer. When my mom died from cancer, things were never the same. Even after the grief of losing her, my dad was always extra careful of everything.” She returned the hug and held Frances. “Things won’t be the same anymore. You won’t be as strong as you want to be. You’ll probably need help walking around and such.” She started to rock the other. She eventually stopped crying.

“I want to sleep.” Theo just chuckled at this.

“Here,” she chuckled as she lifted Frances ( _ she has gotten so thin and frail _ ) and adjusted her. Now she had her legs bent over Theo’s and her head resting on the front of the other’s shoulder. “Have you eaten today, Fran?”

“Well, I  _ did _ . I ended up throwing it up."

“I know you want to sleep, but can you eat a bit beforehand?” Frances just groaned. “Just some crackers and a glass of juice, please?” She just sighed before nodding. Theo took out her phone and texted Philip to grab the things. He was up within a matter of seconds with a small plate of crackers and a glass of orange juice. He handed Theo the plate before giving his sister a kiss on the head and hurrying out of the room.

“I wonder what’s got him in a rush,” Theo laughed.

“He was probably making out with Georges or something.” She mumbled about having to eat while she bit into one of the crackers. She got through all of the crackers in a matter of minutes and drank about half of the juice. “Are you happy now?”

“Very. Do you still want to sleep?” Frances just nodded. “Want me to sing?” Another nod. She sang a song that they all knew, and one that described so much of what happened.

_ “I bet you don't curse God _

_ When the doctor calls _

_ With a stern voice and the test results _

_ And he asks you to come in right away. _

 

_ I bet you don't curse God _

_ When you're on a plane _

_ In a turbulance, pourin' rain _

_ And you're hoping that you'll make it out okay. _

 

_ Everybody cries _

_ We've all faked a smile _

_ When your back's against the wall _

_ And your hands are tied _

 

_ There's pain, Life hurts _

_ There's a thousand things _

_ You think you don't deserve. _

_ All hope is lost _

_ When You spend it all _

_ And you just can't beat the odds. _

_ I bet you don't curse God _

_ I bet you don't curse God _ .”


	3. When You Spend It All and Just Can't Beat The Odds

Things seemed to be okay after Frances got her surgery. From what they knew, everything was okay. The tumors were gone, and she was healing. She was happier, but there was still that little bit of hollow in everything that she did. You could see through her smile sometimes, and her smile didn’t light her eyes up like it used to. Still, she was happy.

Her recur made it all come crashing down.

The tumor had spread before it was removed, and it was only getting worse. The doctors didn’t try anything because they knew nothing would work. They knew that there was nothing that they could do to help her.

They gave her 18 months. A year and a half to live. She would have been sixteen for half a year. They told her on her birthday that she wouldn’t live to be seventeen. The first thing that she did was call Theo.

“How did it go?” The two were talking about it beforehand, excited to hear good news that she’d be fully recovered within a few months. “W-Why are you crying?”

“T-There was a recur with the tumors,” Frances gasped into the phone as she sobbed in the car on her way home. “I-I ha-have 18 months.”

“I’ll be over in ten minutes.” Frances let out a quiet ‘okay’ before hanging up. 18 months to live and she wouldn’t be able to do anything that she would have wanted to. A year and a half to do everything that she could. A year and a half to live, and a year and a half to make memories.

John and Alex helped her into the house. The lights were off, so Frances reached to turn them on.

“SURPRISE!” People jumped out from every corner. Tears just ran faster down her face as everyone realized that she was crying.

“Did it not go well,” Lafayette asked.

“I had a recur with both tumors,” Frances stated loud enough for everyone to hear. “There’s nothing they can do, and I have eighteen months.”

“Eighteen months for what,” Virginie asked.

“I have eighteen months to live.”

No one knew what to do. They all sat in silence. “I am guessing that this is all for my birthday? Thank you all so much.” She gave a strained smile. “You really didn’t have to do this.” She wiped the tears from her face. “Let’s try to make this happy, okay? I don’t want my birthday to be a sad day.” The people around her began to appear with light smiles on their faces, but worry still seeped through their teeth. “What did you guys even have planned?”

“Well, Theodosia was getting your gift from all of us. We were going to distract you with some games and such until she showed up,” Philip smiled, tears making his eyes glow.

“I called her as soon as my appointment was over.” The door creaked open, and Theodosia walked in. She was carrying a large box. Philip hurried forward and grabbed the box as Theo hurried over to Frances. She was wearing a grey smock dress with a high neckline and no sleeves. She had a ribbon pinned in her curly hair. She wrapped Frances in a hug. Frances just relaxed into her arms, fatigue hitting her like a train.

“C’mon. Don’t fall asleep yet, you still haven’t opened your present!” She set Frances in one of the chairs and brought the box up. “We all pitched in.” She opened the box and gasped. It was a cherry-red guitar. “I remember you saying that you knew how to play a few songs on the guitar, so I thought that we should all pitch in and get you a guitar.” She lifted it out of the box and saw that there was some engravings on the side. 

‘We love you. Don’t let cancer knock you down.

~With love, from your family’

There was also large groups of flowers carved around the words. She saw that a baby blue pick was threaded into the strings. She grabbed it, making sure not to drop it.

“Try it,” Theo said quietly.

“In lieu of the bad news, let’s do the saddest song that I can think of,” she laughed. “This is Smoke by Melanie Martinez. I learned it by ear because I couldn’t find any sheet music.”

“ _ Too petty, his little girl, you've gone so far _

_ Keep begging until you're smiling, you're a movie star _

_ Songs from the 50's your mom's used to sing _

_ Oh, in the kitchen while she's making dinner for your family _

 

_ Keep dreaming baby girl keep your head up high _

_ Waiting for your mama to sing lullabies _

_ Well daddy isn't here and mama's smoking stacks _

_ Oh, headaches from the smoke you smell ain't getting wrecked _

 

_ Closer to encourage and I'll be awake _

_ Sing yourself to sleep learn how to be afraid _

_ All you haven't got, always a rivalry _

_ While your lungs are filled with all the smoke you breathe _

 

_ Don't you worry now you sleep you little thing _

_ Daddy will come back and therefore he will sing _

_ Sing your precious lullaby to you he will _

_ While mama smokes her cancer till the dawn still. _ ”

**Author's Note:**

> If I got anything wrong with the detection and stuff, please tell me. I did an extensive amount of research, but you never know.
> 
> Also, if you have any questions pertaining the Chiari, please ask! I have a Chiari, so I can give you some info!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr if you want @ the-flaming-creampuff


End file.
